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A pair of American Airlines jets are parked on the airport apron at Miami International Airport in Miami. [AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee]

Contract talks between American Airlines and the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) end Thursday without reaching an agreement.

“After years of bargaining, including almost a year of mediated talks with the assistance of the National Mediation Board, and despite the Union’s best efforts, American Airlines did not come to the table with an agreement that adequately compensates American’s 28,000 Flight Attendants,” said APFA National President Julie Hedrick. “Flight Attendants will move the process forward to secure overdue economic improvements.

American airlines released a statement as well on Thursday declaring an agreement was “within reach” and that it looked “forward to additional [talks] being scheduled.”

Flight attendants at American are fighting for their first raise since January 1, 2019, when their last contract expired. They are also demanding retroactive pay for the period of delayed talks caused by the lockdowns in the early stages of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The end of talks takes the 28,000 flight attendants one step closer to a national strike. Flight attendants’ right to strike is highly restricted under the Railway Labor Act, which also covers workers in the airline industry. The law, first signed in 1926 and amended in 1934 and 1936, mandates an extensive, byzantine mediation process designed to prevent workers from striking. Under conditions where workers’ right to strike is severely limited and controlled by the pro-corporate government, this invariably results in contracts impose which are favorable to the companies, as the law is designed to do.

In extreme cases, arbitration ends with work rules being imposed directly by Washington through a strike ban. This happened in the railroad industry in early December 2022 when self-described “pro-labor” President Joe Biden signed into law a dictatorial bill to impose a contract on rail workers which tens of thousands of railroad workers previously voted to reject.

The National Mediation Board (NMB), which has been overseeing negotiations between American Airlines and the APFA during this stage, has a flow chart that describes the process. According to this, American Airlines flight attendants could be on strike in 30 days, if allowed to do so by government mediators.

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